GERARD of PRATO. - Franciscan of the 13th century. Of distinguished family, brother of Fra Arlotto da Prato, who later became Minister General of the Friars Minor, in 1246 he studied in Pisa with the celebrated Fra Salimbe da Parma (q.v.), and completed his studies in Toulouse after 1248.
He was a lecturer in the Franciscan Order. In 1264 he was sent by Urban IV on an embassy to Constantinople to the Emperor Michael Palaeologus. In 1278 Nicholas IV entrusted him with a dual legation, to Abagha, king of the Eastern Tartars (19 Apr.), and to the Great Khan of the Tartars (4 Apr.). In 1282-83, in an act against Peter John Olivi, he is found as an associate of the Minister General, Fra Bonagrazia da Bologna. He composed a notable Brevi-logium super libros sententiarum, published by Fr. Marcellino da Civezza in 1882.